How many hurdles can these Hounds leap over?

If that’s the case, every member of the Soo Greyhounds organization should look like Hercules.

I mean, what more can go wrong?

A franchise that entered this season needing all the breaks fate has to offer, has instead been forced to see the hockey gods as personal tormentors.

Now so far this season, the Hounds have shocked us.

They’ve somehow managed to overcome both past history, and a series of obstacles to open with a 5-2-0-0 record.

But just when things were going well — really well, in fact — this club loses star defenceman Ryan Sproul for what it hopes will only be 8-10 weeks.

The 19-year-old Mississauga native suffered a fractured left forearm early in Saturday’s 6-3 loss to Sarnia.

If he’s out eight weeks, the Soo will be without Sproul for 22 games.

If he’s sidelined the full 10 weeks, Sproul, one of the OHL’s elite defencemen, will miss 27 games.

It’s a sobering thought for a team desperate to build a new reputation.

But it’s just the latest setback the 2012-2013 Greyhounds have faced.

You know the background: Back-to-back seasons without a playoff berth and three of the last four on the post-season sidelines.

Last year was particularly aggravating.

From ownership, to management, to the coaches and players, this team prepared to enter a new season under an awful lot of pressure.

A winning attitude, and the confidence that goes with it, had to be established. Not an easy task.

Yet as July turned into August, all involved seemed to be hopeful.

The Hounds were determined to be part of a resurrection that would amaze even Lazarus.

But then in late August, just before training camp was to begin, Hounds vets Nick Cousins, Andrew Fritsch and Mark Petaccio were charged with sexual assault.

More than just an ordinary bomb, the trio dropped a nuclear device on a franchise desperate to earn back the respect of many of its fans.

Then on Oct. 1, the Hounds lost their captain, overage defenceman Colin Miller, for four or five weeks due to an inflamed and infected bursa sac on his left Achilles tendon.

And now this.

Sure, injuries are a part of the game. Remember what Sarnia went through last season?

But replacing your top two defencemen, players who skate in all situations, while eating up 25 minutes of ice time per night, is a Gargantuan task.

Things had been going so smoothly. . . before these two injuries hit.

The Greyhounds have shown a special resiliency, winning four times with dramatic, third-period comebacks.

So far, these Hounds have been a team that never dies.

They’ve been like cockroaches, Keith Richards and Britney Spears's career: Just when you think they’re finished, they spring back to life.

So for diehard Hounds fans, who’ve suffered so much in recent years, back-to-back injuries like this are painful to imagine.

Fans would likely shake their heads and laugh, if they weren’t so busy crying.

Look, this club had some serious defensive issues before losing Miller and Sproul.

Now there’s even more heat on goalie Matt Murray to be brilliant (which he has been) on a nightly basis.

“Obviously, when you’ve had a good start, it’s hard on a team to lose its two best defencemen,” said winger David Broll, who’s particularly close to Sproul. “But we have to stay positive. It’s a real test for us and I’m confident we can meet it, for sure.”

Saddle up boys and get ready to battle like you’ve never battled before.

Honestly, this will be a ride down a washboard road. It’ll be bumpy and unsettling.

But situations such as this don’t build character. They reveal it. And more than ever before, we’re about to see what the 2012-2013 Greyhounds are made of.